Alrighty then, time for post number 2, on the magnificent journey that is my year overseas. So first of all, I would like to say, that Japan is an engineering dream. The economy of space here is phenomenal, as not a square meter of land is unused. Like in Osaka, where you are going through the suburbs and you can see from the train window, in the middle of the suburbs, a rice paddy. Just between houses, they are quite common. In Australia you have undeveloped fields just sitting there for years on end because they aren't deemed "useful" or "in a good location" so they go unused. None of that here, at all. Also, there are a lot of bikes here. Everyone has one, and they are the most common form of transport, other than maybe train.
And now for what I have actually been doing. The family that I am currently staying with is the Tachiki (立木) family, and they are really cool. The dad lives in Nagoya, and the eldest son lives in Yokohama, so they aren't at home unless it's a weekend (sounds familiar) and the mother and younger son live at home, in Tokyo. It's a relatively old family, with the parents being around their sixties, and the kids being around 30, so everyone is very mature (mostly :P) and it's really enjoyable. On the first day that I was with the family (Saturday, 土曜日) we went to a truck stop high in the mountains, where you can get an excellent view of Mount Fuji, Japan's tallest mountain. I looked into Mount Fuji, and he looked into me, and then, my soul was opened. Or something, but it was an amazing sight, and something everyone should really see at least once.
After that we went to a Cantonese restaurant in the town that was cradled in the mountain's valley, which also bordered the sea (Think Dromana but Japanese) and it was very tasty. Japan probably has some of the best food in the world, because the attention to detail, no matter the style, is incredible. They probably make the best bacon in the world too, because they don't just leave it as bacon. Oh lordy no, they put ginger and soy soy sauce and osake on it to make it taste like non-kosher Jesus. Long story short, Japanese food = Awesome.
そのあとで, we went to see Odawara Castle, which is an old and very important castle, having been hotly contested during the Edo period by various clans. It was built by the Hojo clan, and the castle was surrounded by 9km of walls to repel invasion and capture of the main keep. But recently it has been taken down and rebuilt, and has now been refurbished into a museum of its history, which was very interesting, and full of cool old models, weaponry and armor of the time. It is divided into four sections, each one ascertaining to a different period or theme, and each has it's own gems. If you are ever in the area, check it out, you won't be disappointed.
Note this is all in the same day, we did a lot. That night we went to one of Hisae's friends house, and we had a good ol' chat and a coffee, which was nice, and I actually understood most of what was said! So proud of myself. And then we finally headed home, after doing all of that stuff, and we stayed up and had green tea and these little cookie things, which I am still undecided on whether I like them or not. They were very sweet.
The next day was relatively relaxed, and we just hung out and spoke Japanese, I did a couple of hours of study (Japanese of course) and then we went out to this nice little restaurant called "Roses" (Romanised of course) with one of my host mothers friends, and we talked about my stay in Japan and what school is like in Australia, and what I was planning to do after high school. All in Japanese :D Then we went home and hung out with my host brother, who is really cool, and we watched TV in Japanese and there was a typhoon! :D
Next day was pretty much a lazy day, did a couple of hours of Japanese study and watched TV and stuff, not bad, not great, just a day. There's got to be some of them afterall.
The day after though, was really great. We went up to an observation deck, and I took photos of all of Tokyo, pretty amazing stuff. That city goes for kilometres on end, and there is absolutely no gap in the buildings, it's an incredible sight to see. Then we went to lunch at a restaurant that I can't quite remember, but it was damn delicious. Japanese level delicious. After the days shenanigans, we ventured back to home and then I half learned how to cook tempura (てんぷら）because the instructions were in Japanese, but I got the gist, and then we ate it and it didn't taste too bad for gaijin prepared food.
And finally today, my last day with this family. We went out to lunch at this amazing restaurant (seems to be a bit of a theme) and we had chicken battered with... something... kind of like bread, but all crumbly and delicious. This and miso soup, Japanese pickles (which are amazing by the way) and also a huge pile of cabbage... needless to say, I only ate some of that, but ALL the chicken :D そして we went back home and I did a few more hours of Japanese study and then wrote this, my amazing blog. (Not really, awaiting confirmation)
In the morning, at around ten to 11, Kota Shigematsu is picking me up and taking me to my new host family, whom I will be staying with for the next 4 months. Hopefully they are as awesome as this one was, and little Wataru is as awesome as I expect him to be, because three year olds are awesome. Not in a creepy way though. So, goodnight my friends, and I shall write again next week. また来週!
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